Big Hero 6
Adolph Lusinsky |edited by = Tim Mertens|production company = Walt Disney Animation Studios|distributed by = Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|release date = March 21, 2014 |running time = 102 Minutes|country = United States|language = English|budget = $166 Million|box office = $890.8 Million|preceded by = Frozen|followed by = Zootopia}} Big Hero 6 is a 2014 American 3-D computer animated superhero action-packed comedy adventure film created and produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film is directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams. The film is adapted and based on the original comic book series, named Big Hero 6 by Zenescope Comics. It is the 84th animated feature film in the Disney Animated Canon. The film was released worldwide theatrically on March 21, 2014. The film was theatrically accompanied by short flim, Feast. The film received universal acclaim from audiences and critics, and was a box office and commercial success, grossing $890.8 million worldwide. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The film follows Hiro, a robotics prodigy, joins hands with Baymax in order to avenge his brother's death. They then team up with Hiro's friends to form a team of high-tech heroes. The television series titled as Big Hero 6: The Series, is premiered on Disney Channel from March 13, 2017, which is sequel and based on the feature film. Synopsis Big Hero 6, an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax (Scott Adsit), an adorable, plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter). When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago (Jamie Chung), neatnik Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), chemistry whiz Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) and fanboy Fred (T.J. Miller). Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a team of high-tech heroes called Big Hero 6. Plot The film is set in a fictional futuristic hybrid metropolis called San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo), in Japan. Hiro Hamada is a young genius and robotics expert who spends his time participating in back alley robot fights. His older brother Tadashi, worried that Hiro is wasting his potential, takes Hiro to the robotics lab at his school--the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. There, Hiro meets Tadashi's closest friends: Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred as well as Baymax, a sweet and hilarious personal healthcare robot that Tadashi created. Hiro also meets Professor Robert Callaghan, the head of the robotics program Amazed by the students' projects, Hiro decides to enroll in the school. With help from Tadashi and his friends, Hiro designs his own robotics project in order to gain a personal invitation via an annual exhibition. His invention, Microbots, a type of nanorobotics which he can control telepathically through a neural-cranial transmitter, impresses Callaghan, who offers Hiro an invitation to the school. His project also impresses Alistair Krei, owner of the prestigious robotics company Krei Tech. Krei offers to buy Hiro's microbots, but Callaghan successfully convinces Hiro not to make the deal.↵As they leave to celebrate Hiro's success, a fire suddenly breaks out in the exhibition hall. Tadashi rushes in to rescue Callaghan, who is still inside, but the building explodes moments later, apparently killing both Tadashi and Callaghan (off-screen). Heartbroken over the loss of his brother and best friend, Hiro shuts himself away in his room and isolates himself from others for two weeks. One day, Hiro accidentally activates Baymax, who responds to Hiro's cry of pain. As Hiro attempts to deactivate Baymax, he discovers a single microbot that was left in his jacket. Hiro believes its movement is due to a malfunction, but Baymax believes it is trying to go somewhere. After Hiro gives a sarcastic response, the adorably naive Baymax follows the microbot to an abandoned warehouse just as Hiro catches up. There, they discover that someone has been mass producing Hiro's microbots before they are attacked by a masked man controlling the microbots telepathically. They barely manage to escape. Deducing that the masked man stole the Microbots at the showcase hall and started the fire to cover his tracks, Hiro decides to catch him and upgrades Baymax with battle armor and various fighting moves. Following their single microbot again, they find the masked man at the harbor and attempt to pull a surprise attack, but are unable to when Go Go, Wasabi, Honey, and Fred arrive in a car (because Baymax had contacted them earlier, thinking that a great way to help Hiro was to contact his friends). The masked man attacks them as they flee in the car. They land in the water and nearly drown, but Baymax floats them up to safety. Wet and freezing, Fred suggests that they rest in an enormous mansion that he reveals to be his home. After realizing that Baymax had scanned the masked man, Hiro decides to upgrade Baymax further so he can scan the entire city to find him. Hiro also upgrades his friends and provides them with supersuits of their own.↵When scanning the entire city, Baymax locates the masked man on a quarantined Akuma Island off-shore from the city. There, the group discovers a former Krei Tech lab that was experimenting with teleportation technology. The test went awry when one of the portals became unstable and the human test pilot got lost and presumed died. Because of this, they suspect that Krei is the masked man. The masked man unexpectedly reappears and attacks them. They attempt to steal his mask, where they deduce the transmitter is located. Despite some difficulties, Hiro succeeds in knocking off the mask and the mysterious man is revealed to be Professor Callaghan, who explains that he survived by using Hiro's microbots to shield himself from the blaze. Upon realizing that Tadashi died for nothing, Hiro becomes enraged; he angrily removes Baymax's healthcare chip and orders him to kill Callaghan. With only the battle chip left, Baymax becomes a mindless killing machine and goes on a rampage in an attempt to kill Callaghan, who is powerless without the microbots. Go Go, Fred, Wasabi, and Honey are able to stop Baymax and reinsert his chip, but in the process, Callaghan retrieves his mask and escapes. Angry at the four for preventing him from getting revenge, Hiro leaves with Baymax. Once home, Hiro attempts to remove Baymax's healthcare chip again, but Baymax objects to this, not wanting to become a mindless killing machine again, and asks him if killing Callaghan will make him feel better. To comfort him, Baymax then shows several video recordings of Tadashi during Baymax's development. A remorseful Hiro realizes that killing Callaghan is not what Tadashi would have wanted and he makes amends with his friends. After examining more footage of the teleporter test, they discover that the test pilot was none other than Callaghan's daughter Abigail and realize that Callaghan is seeking revenge on Krei, whom he blames for her apparent demise. Using the microbots, Callaghan captures Krei and repairs the portal device so it will become unstable and destroy everything Krei loves: his business. The heroes arrive and Hiro attempts to reason with Callaghan, stating that revenge is a hollow victory. Callaghan briefly falters, but ultimately gives in to his hatred and proceeds with his plan. The heroes battle him and eventually manage to neutralize the microbots and take the transmitter from him. However, the portal remains active and is becoming increasingly unstable. As everyone prepares to leave, Baymax detects female life signs from within the portal. Realizing that it must be Abigail in hypersleep, they rush in to save her. However, on their way out, Baymax's armor is damaged by a giant piece of debris and the only way to save Hiro and Abigail is to send them through with his rocket fist. Hiro refuses to leave Baymax behind, but Baymax convinces him that it is the only option. Baymax asks Hiro if he is satisfied with his care, to which Hiro sadly says yes and Baymax deactivates. Hiro and Abigail make it back through the portal. Callaghan is then arrested while Abigail is taken to the hospital. Later, as Hiro settles into Tadashi's old lab, he discovers Baymax's healthcare chip (which contains his entire personality and memories as well) within the rocket hand. He successfully rebuilds Baymax's body, reactivates him and they happily reunite. The six friends then continue their exploits through the city, helping those in need as the Big Hero 6. In a post-credits scene, Fred, back at his mansion, talks to a photo of his father, telling him he'd be proud of him. Fred accidentally opens a secret door and, upon entering, finds weapons, armor, and superhero gear. His father (Harvey Keital) arrives and states that they have a lot to talk about before the two embrace. Cast * Ryan Potter as Hiro Hamada * Scott Adsit as Baymax * Daniel Henney as Tadashi Hamada * James Cromwell as Professor Robert Callaghan/Yokai * Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon * Jamie Chung as Go Go Tomago * T.J. Miller as Fred * Damon Wayans Jr. as Wasabi * Maya Rudolph as Cass Hamada * Alan Tudyk as Alistair Krei * John DiMaggio as Yama * Katie Lowes as Abigail Callaghan * Yuri Lowenthal as Sergeant Gerson * Patrick Seitz as Heathcliff * Harvey Keitel as Jasper Fitzsimmons Production and Development In 2011, while Don Hall chose Big Hero 6 from the library of Zenescope Comics and later pitched the concept to executive producer John Lasseter, as a possible production for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In March 2013, Disney confirmed that Walt Disney Animation Studios was adapting Zenescope Comics's superhero comic book series and that the film was commissioned into early stages of development. It was the first time when The Walt Disney Company made its collaboration with the comic books publishing company, Zenescope Comics Pvt. Ltd. for the feature film project. It has been confirmed that Big Hero 6 will be a stand-alone film and have no relationship with its publishing origin. The film is based on an obscure 1979 series written by Steven T. Seagle & Duncan Roulea. Although Big Hero 6 was produced solely by Walt Disney Animation Studios, several members of Zenescope Comics's creative team were involved in the film's production including it's Chief Creative Officer Shawn Pryor. Regarding the film's story, Pryor stated, "The relationship between Hiro and his robot has a very Disney flavor to it...but it's combined with these heroic arcs". In terms of the film's animation style and settings, the film will combine Eastern Asian culture (predominantly Japanese) with Western culture. On March 15, 2013, it was reported that Chris Williams had joined Hall as the new director, while Roy Conli, p.g.a. had replaced Kristina Reed as producer. On January 13, 2014, Disney had announced that Warner Loughlin, an acting coach for Amy Adams, Ryan Reynolds, Zooey Deschanel and others, had joined the project. It was reported that she will help the project by providing breathtaking emotions and quality acting for the characters of Big Hero 6. Production of the film was completed on February 8, 2014. Release Big Hero 6 was released theatrically on March 21, 2014, in the United States and the worldwide. The world premiere of Big Hero 6 was held at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, United States on March 21, 2014. Big Hero 6 premiered on the same day of its world premiere as the opening film at the Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan. The teaser trailer was released on November 17, 2013, while the first full trailer arrived on January 19, 2014. Home Media Big Hero 6 was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD on February 24, 2015. Writer Steven T. Seagle, who co-created the comic book Big Hero 6, criticized the Blu-ray featurette documenting the origins of the group, for not mentioning him or co-creator Duncan Rouleau. Seagle also criticized the book Art of Big Hero 6 for the same omission. Big Hero 6 was released in 4K Blu-Ray on November 5, 2019. Reception Box Office Big Hero 6 earned $480.2 million in North America and $4.8 million in other territories for a worldwide estimated total of $890.8 million. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline estimated that the film made a profit of $468.4 million. Worldwide, it is the highest-grossing animated film of 2014 and the 9th-highest-grossing animated film of all time. By grossing over $700 million worldwide, it became the fourth Disney release of 2014 to do so. North America In the U.S.A and Canada, the film is the second-highest-grossing science-fiction animated film and the second-highest-grossing animated superhero comedy film (behind 2004's Astro Boy), and the second-highest-grossing Disney animated film (behind 2013's Frozen). The film earned $2.6 million from late Thursday night showings, which is higher than the previews earned by Frozen ($1.2 million) and The Lego Movie ($400,000). In its opening day on March 21, the film earned $16.8 million, debuting at number two behind Interstellar ($16.9 million). Big Hero 6 topped the box office in its opening weekend, earning $56.2 million from 3,761 theaters ahead of Interstellar ($47.5 million); it is Walt Disney Animation Studios' second-best opening behind Frozen ($67.4 million), both adjusted and unadjusted. On February 15, 2015, Big Hero 6 became the fifth-highest-grossing Disney animated film in both the U.S. and Canada, behind Frozen, Brave, Zootopia and Finding Dory. Outside North America Two weeks ahead of its North American release, Big Hero 6 was released in Russia (earned $4.8 million) and Ukraine (earned $0.2 million) in two days (October 25–26). The main reason behind the early release was in order to take advantage of the two weeks of school holidays in Russia. Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, said "For a two-day gross, that's huge. It's a giant number in Russia." In its second weekend, the film added $4.8 million (up 1%) bringing its total nine-day cumulative audience to $10.3 million in Russia and $10.9 including its revenue from Ukraine. In its opening weekend, the film earned $7.6 million from seventeen markets for a first weekend worldwide total of $79.2 million, behind Interstellar ($132.2 million). It went to number one in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. It opened with $4.8 million in Mexico. In Japan, where the film is locally known as Baymax, it opened at second place behind Yo-Kai Watch: Tanjō no Himitsu da Nyan!, with $5.3 million, marking it the second-biggest Disney opening in Japan behind Frozen and topped the box office for six consecutive weekends. The film opened in second place with $6 million ($6.8 million including previews) in the U.K., which is 6% lower than Frozen. It opened at No. 1 with $14.8 million in China, which is the biggest opening for a Disney and Pixar animated film (breaking Frozen 's record) and topped the box office for three consecutive weekends. The film became the highest-grossing Disney animated film in Vietnam and in China (surpassed by Zootopia), the second-highest-grossing Disney animated film of all time in Russia, in the Philippines (behind Brave), and in Japan (behind Frozen). In addition to being the second-highest-grossing Disney animated film, it is also the fifth-highest-grossing animated film of all time in China. In total earnings, its biggest markets outside of the United States and Canada are China ($83.5 million) and Japan ($76 million). Critical Response Big Hero 6 received universal acclaim from audiences and critics. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 96% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 288 reviews, with an average score of 8.6/10. The site's consensus states: "Agreeably entertaining and brilliantly animated, Big Hero 6 is briskly-paced, action-packed, and often touching." Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 94 based on 88 reviews, indicating positive reviews. Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film 4/4 stars, writing that "The real appeal of Big Hero 6 isn't its action. It's the central character's heart." Maricar Estrella of Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave the film 5 stars, saying it "offers something for everyone: action, camaraderie, superheroes and villains. But mostly, Baymax offers a compassionate and healing voice for those suffering, and a hug that can be felt through the screen." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, stating, "The breakthrough star of the season is here. His name is Baymax and he's impossible not to love. The 3-D animated Big Hero 6 would be a ton less fun without this irresistible blob of roly-poly, robot charisma." Kofi Outlaw of Screen Rant gave the film 4 out of 5 stars or "excellent", explaining that "Big Hero 6 combines Disney wonder and charm with Zenescope awe and action to deliver a film that exhibits the best of both studios." Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a positive review, calling it "sweet and sharp and exciting and hilarious" and says that the film "comes to the rescue of what's become a dreaded movie trope—the origin story—and launches the superhero tale to pleasurable new heights." Calvin Wilson of St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the film 4 of 4 stars, writing that "the storytelling is solid, propelled by characters that you come to care about. And that should make Big Hero 6 a big hit." Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film a positive review, writing, "Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams have made a terrific movie about a boy (Ryan Potter) and his robot friend, who seek answers to a deadly tragedy," calling it an "unexpectedly good treat". Soren Anderson of The Seattle Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying that "Clever, colorful, fast on its feet, frequently very funny and sweet (but not excessively so), Big Hero 6 mixes its myriad influences into a final product that, while in no way original, is immensely entertaining." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying that "the funny and heartwarming story about the bond between a teen tech geek and a gentle robot represents another can't-miss proposition by Walt Disney Animation Studios." Jon Niccum of The Kansas City Star gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing that while it "may hit a few familiar beats inherent to any superhero 'origin story,'" it is still "the best animated film of the year, supplying The Incredibles-size adventure with a level of emotional bonding not seen since The Iron Giant", and that it "never runs low on battery power".Elizabeth Weitzman of the Daily News gave the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it a "charming animated adventure", saying that with "appealing 3D animation" and a smart and "sharp story and script", it is "one of the rare family films that can fairly boast of having it all: humor, heart and huggability". Rafer Guzmán from Newsday gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying that "Zenescope plus Disney plus John Lasseter equals an enjoyable jumble of kid-approved action", with "rich, vivid colors and filled with clever details". Videos Official US Film Teaser - Disney - Big Hero 6 Trivia * Big Hero 6 is the 50th non-musical film of the Disney Animated Canon. * In one scene from Zootopia, the Big Hero 6 easter egg is spoofed as "Pig Hero 6". * Big Hero 6 is the second Disney animated feature film to be inspired by a comic book series (of the same name) as opposed to a traditional fairy-tale, fictional book or an entirely original concept followed by 2004's Astro Boy. ** Both are adapted and based on the original comic book series. ** Both are the Academy award winners. * In one scene from Zootopia, the Big Hero 6 easter egg is spoofed as "Pig Hero 6". * Although it is based on a comic of the same name, there are many changes, including character names, the setting, the ethnicities of characters, the backstories, and several plot points: ** Several characters do not appear in the film due to copyright issues. ** The film mainly draws from Big Hero 6 's mini-series, where Wasabi and Fred first appeared, replacing Silver Samurai and Sunfire. ** The character originally known as Wasabi No-Ginger has his last name officially dropped from the film, and is simply referred to as Wasabi. Many official Disney merchandise and sites, however, still refer to him as "Wasabi No-Ginger". * James Cromwell and Alan Tudyk previously co-starred in the 2004 film I, Robot. *Jamie Chung and Maya Rudolph previously co-starred in the 2010 film, Grown Ups. * Daniel Henney and Genesis Rodriguez previously co-starred in the 2013 film, The Last Stand. * Later T.J. Miller and Maya Rudolph co-starred in the 2017 animated film,The Emoji Movie. * This is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios feature to have Disney's Hyperion Rendering. ** The last feature to use old rendering was the previous feature, Frozen. * According to Big Hero 6 's character design supervisor, Shiyoon Kim, one of the main goals of this movie was to introduce multiracial characters to allow everyone to feel some familiarities about their own culture and introduce the world's racial diversity. However all the characters are belong to Japanese descent but have different ancestory race. ** Hiro Hamada and Tadashi Hamada are Japanese and American. ** Go Go Tomago is Korean. ** Honey Lemon is Brazilian. ** Wasabi is South African. ** Fred is Australian. *** Kim revealed that the lead characters, although they were later given Japanese names, were originally envisioned as Koreans during development. * At the beginning of this film, robot-fighting may have been inspired by cockfights, a traditional medieval blood sport that is illegal in the United States. ** This is the second Disney film to contain a blood sport, the first being White Fang. * Pepper, an emotion-reading robot created by Japanese company SoftBank Group, recently recorded dialogue for the Japanese dub of the movie. * BBC Radio 1 presenters and Youtubers Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) were given the roles of Male Technician 1 and 2 in the UK Cinema version of the movie. However, that version did not end up in the UK home release, as it is based off of the original US version, not the PAL release. Cameos * When Hiro is talking with his aunt, there is a painting of Mochi wearing a Stitch costume behind him. * In Fred's mansion, there is a Stitch pillow as well as one with Splodyhead on his bed in the background. * There is a Wreck-It Ralph toy on Hiro's bedroom desk. * Hans is seen on a wanted poster at the police department and as a statue in Fred's mansion. * There is a picture of Bolt as well as one of Esther The Emu in the desk at the police department. * The statue Baymax destroys with his rocket fist closely resembles Hans. * An Arendelle ship can be seen at the bay of San Fransokyo during Baymax and Hiro's flight sequence. * A statue of Olaf is also spotted in the middle of the city. * In the UK version of Big Hero 6 (but not in the UK home release), two British YouTube stars Dan Howell and Phil Lester have two voice cameos as Technician 1 and 2. * Honey Lemon's phone case has Nick Wilde on it. * In the Korean version of the film, there is a picture of Elsa the Snow Queen's head silhouette on the wall of Hiro's house. * Baby Cy-Bugs from Wreck-It-Ralph can be seen on the shelves of both Hiro and Fred's room, as well as Hero's Duty soldiers. * If one looks closely, on Hiro's desk, one can see an NES controller under his computer when he is talking with the others. Category:2014 Category:2014 Films Category:Films Category:Animated Films Category:3-D Films Category:PG-Rated Films Category:Films Based On Books Category:Academy Award Winning Films Category:Golden Globe Award Winning Films Category:Disney Animated Canon Films Category:Disney Revival Era Animated Films Category:Big Hero 6